At a Glance

Do you love a good debate? Do you want to learn from some of the world’s leading authorities on critical issues facing our society today? Join us on the idyllic Ivy League campus of Cornell University for a groundbreaking new program exclusive to Road Scholar. First, Cornell faculty will provide insight into the benefits and potential risks of the controversial field of artificial intelligence. Then, you’ll study a variety of debate formats and methods for analyzing arguments and presenting and defending a convincing case before participating in — or being part of the audience for — spirited debates on the future of artificial intelligence. This is an extraordinary opportunity to challenge your intellect and experience academic life at one of the world’s premier institutions.

Best of all, you'll ...

Get exclusive Road Scholar access to special presentations by members of the Cornell faculty, and watch the Cornell debate team in a live debate to see one of the nation’s highly regarded teams in action.

Go back to your college days as you experience the Ivy League life at Cornell University, during the idyllic autumn season.

General Notes

This conference program has a maximum of 120 like-minded participants, is classroom-based and features acclaimed experts. For field trips, the group will be divided into smaller groups.

Suggested Reading List

View 8 books

Arguing A.I.: The Battle for Twenty-first-Century Science

by Sam Williams

Few scientific topics since the theory of biological evolution have inspired as much controversy as artificial intelligence has. Even now, fifty years after the term first made its appearance in academic journals, many philosophers and more than a few prominent scientists and software programmers dismiss the pursuit of thinking machines as the modern-day equivalent of medieval alchemists’ hunt for the philosopher’s stone-a pursuit based more on faith than on skeptical inquiry.
In Arguing A.I., journalist Sam Williams charts both the history of artificial intelligence from its scientific and philosophical roots and the history of the A.I. debate. He examines how and why the tenor of the debate has changed over the last half-decade in particular, as scientists are struggling to take into account the latest breakthroughs in computer science, information technology, and human biology. For every voice predicting machines like 2001’s HAL within the next twenty to thirty years, others have emerged with more pessimistic forecasts. From artificial intelligence’s pioneers John McCarthy and Marvin Minsky, to futurist authors Ray Kurzweil and Hans Moravec, to software architects Bill Joy and Jaron Lanier, Arguing A.I. introduces readers to the people participating in the current debate, both proponents and critics of A.I. who are changing the way computers “think” and the way we think about computers.
Ultimately, Arguing A.I. is as much a history of thought as it is a history of science. Williams notes that many of the questions plaguing modern scientists and software programmers are the same questions that have concerned scientists and philosophers since time immemorial: What are the fundamental limitations of science and scientific inquiry? What is the nature of intelligence? And, most important, what does it really mean to be human?

Superintelligence

by Nick Bostrom

Superintelligence asks the questions: What happens when machines surpass humans in general intelligence? Will artificial agents save or destroy us? Nick Bostrom lays the foundation for understanding the future of humanity and intelligent life.
The human brain has some capabilities that the brains of other animals lack. It is to these distinctive capabilities that our species owes its dominant position. If machine brains surpassed human brains in general intelligence, then this new superintelligence could become extremely powerful - possibly beyond our control. As the fate of the gorillas now depends more on humans than on the species itself, so would the fate of humankind depend on the actions of the machine superintelligence.
But we have one advantage: we get to make the first move. Will it be possible to construct a seed Artificial Intelligence, to engineer initial conditions so as to make an intelligence explosion survivable? How could one achieve a controlled detonation?
This profoundly ambitious and original book breaks down a vast track of difficult intellectual terrain. After an utterly engrossing journey that takes us to the frontiers of thinking about the human condition and the future of intelligent life, we find in Nick Bostrom's work nothing less than a reconceptualization of the essential task of our time.

How to Win an Argument: Surefire Strategies for Getting Your Point Across

by Michael A. Gilbert

How to Win an Argument is designed to provide you with the tools you need to improve your rhetorical and critical skills. Since we constantly argue at work, home, and even in casual conversation, improving that ability is extremely important. This book will enable you to choose your arguments carefully and prevent you from being misled by fallacies and empty rhetoric. It will increase your insight and perception of the positions presented to you, decrease your gullibility, and replace it with a healthy skepticism. The practical information in this guide will sharpen your ears and your mind, making it more likely that the right response will occur to you at the right moment, rather than hours later. The third edition contains a new chapter on emotion and additional examples for each chapter. Using this book will aid you in communicating effectively, avoiding conflict, and understanding the myriad arguments you are faced with every day.

The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World

by Pedro Domingos

In the world's top research labs and universities, the race is on to invent the ultimate learning algorithm: one capable of discovering any knowledge from data, and doing anything we want, before we even ask. In The Master Algorithm, Pedro Domingos lifts the veil to give us a peek inside the learning machines that power Google, Amazon, and your smartphone. He assembles a blueprint for the future universal learner--the Master Algorithm--and discusses what it will mean for business, science, and society. If data-ism is today's philosophy, this book is its bible.

The Code of the Debater: Introduction to Policy Debating

by Alfred Snider

Code of the Debater provides a practical introduction to policy debate for beginners and a quick reference for experienced debaters. Sections present background on policy debate and debate tournaments; the basics of policy debate, including how to present and attack cases, deal with stock issues and disadvantages, and develop counterplans; and the role and responsibilities of each debater. Code of the Debater also helps debaters develop important skills: speaking, cross-examining, flowing, organizing, analyzing evidence, and briefing. Sections include exercises to help users put abstract ideas into practice.

Argumentation Understanding and Shaping Arguments

by James A Herrick

With clear explanations and abundant examples, this book explores the skills that active citizens and professionals need to make and evaluate arguments effectively in a wide range of real-life contexts. Drawing on classical and contemporary theory and principles, it explores the structure of arguments; relationships between reasons and conclusions; the criteria of evidence, validity, and definitional clarity; common types of arguments and fallacies; and adapting arguments to audiences.

Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

by Max Tegmark

How will Artificial Intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology—and there’s nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who’s helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.
How can we grow our prosperity through automation without leaving people lacking income or purpose? What career advice should we give today’s kids? How can we make future AI systems more robust, so that they do what we want without crashing, malfunctioning or getting hacked? Should we fear an arms race in lethal autonomous weapons? Will machines eventually outsmart us at all tasks, replacing humans on the job market and perhaps altogether? Will AI help life flourish like never before or give us more power than we can handle?
What sort of future do you want? This book empowers you to join what may be the most important conversation of our time. It doesn’t shy away from the full range of viewpoints or from the most controversial issues—from superintelligence to meaning, consciousness and the ultimate physical limits on life in the cosmos.

Competitive Debate: The Official Guide

by Richard Edwards

Nearly every high school and college in America has a debate club and/or a debate team. There are hundreds of competitions at the county and state level, culminating in heated national competitions. Yet, at many high schools and colleges, coaches are drawn from the history or English departments with little or no experience in the highly structured procedures of this popular discipline. And while competitive debate has been growing each year as a prime academic activity, there have been no popular handbooks to help students and coaches prepare for contests effectively and efficiently. Practical and authoritative, this guide includes not only tips and guidelines for effective preparation and delivery, but full-length, actual transcripts of successful competitions in each format. Endorsed by the two national governing bodies for competitive debate—the National Federation of State High School Associations and the National Forensic League—and priced for the budget-conscious student and high school teacher alike, Competitive Debate: The Official Guide is set to become the instructional “bible” for tens of thousands of present and future debaters and their coaches. Inside, Dr. Richard Edwards—award winning debate coach, professor, former competitive debate judge, and author—leads readers through the three popular formats of competitive debate:
• Policy Debate
• Lincoln-Douglas Debate
• Public Forum Debate

Afternoon: Program Registration: 3:00-5:00 p.m. After you have your room assignment, come to the Road Scholar table to register with the program staff and get your welcome packet containing the up-to-date schedule that reflects any changes, other important information, and to confirm the time and location of the Orientation session. If you arrive late, please ask for your packet when you check in. Don't forget to bring your Road Scholar name tag! Orientation. The Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. This is a classroom-based program and will require minimal daily walking. Transportation will be provided primarily by motorcoach, unless otherwise specified. We will transfer daily between the hotel and the ILR Conference Center. Periods in the schedule designated as “Free time” and “At leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

Evening: During a film presentation at the conference center we’ll learn by watching “Great Debates and Debaters in American History." Following the film, we’ll engage in a discussion led by Dr. Benson. We’ll then return to the hotel for the remainder of the evening at leisure. Continue getting to know your fellow participants, settle in, and get a good night’s rest for the days ahead.

DAY

2

Introduction to Debating, Artificial Intelligence

Ithaca, New York

B,L,D

Hilton Garden Inn Ithaca

Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; short transfers to/from conference center for program activities. Minimal walking; the day will be classroom-based.

Morning: After arriving at the ILR Conference Center via motorcoach, we settle in for two lectures this morning focusing on facets and techniques of debate, and on the topic that will be the subject of debate throughout the week: the impact of computers and artificial intelligence on modern life. There will be a question and answer period following each of the lectures, and there will be a coffee break between the two presentations. Joined by Dr. Thomas L. Benson, the founder and President of the International Association for Senior Debate, and President Emeritus of Green Mountain College – an innovative environmental liberal arts college in Vermont – we will lead off the morning program with a lecture introducing us to the spirit and value of senior debate. Following the break for refreshments, we’ll attend a lecture given by a Cornell faculty specialist on the “brave new world” that is emerging as computers come to dominate and transform our lives.

Afternoon: Gathering again in the conference room, the coach and director of Cornell University’s Speech and Debate Program, Sam Nelson, will present a lecture on the two most important skills for effective debating: building and analyzing arguments. After a coffee break, Dr. Benson will follow up his morning lecture with another session, which will focus on introducing us to the most popular varieties of senior debate. By detailing their defining rules and methods, we will learn how to organize and enjoy a variety of debate formats.

Dinner: Conference center buffet.

Evening: At leisure.

DAY

3

Debate Skills & Issues, Singularity Lecture

Ithaca, New York

B,L,D

Hilton Garden Inn Ithaca

Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; short transfers to/from conference center for program activities. Minimal walking; the day will be classroom-based.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Beginning with a workshop featuring a series of debate exercises, we’ll work with staff from the Cornell Speech and Debate Program to develop skills that are useful in all debate formats. The exercises will focus on a number of useful debate skills such as attentive listening to views that may not align with one's own, knowing how to sort out major and minor points in a complex argument, the art of strategic concession in debate, and balancing reason and humor in a persuasive presentation. Following a coffee break, a Cornell computer science professor will present a lecture on the “Singularity” and the impending hypothetical contest between human and artificial intelligence. According to the New York Times, “The idea was formally described as the ‘Singularity’ in 1993 by Vernor Vinge, a computer scientist and science fiction writer, who posited that accelerating technological change would inevitably lead to machine intelligence that would match and then surpass human intelligence.”

Lunch: Conference center buffet.

Afternoon: We will then rendezvous with a general discussion and engage in an “audience debate” on a number of the most controversial issues that have been raised thus far in the lectures we’ve heard by the Cornell computer science professors. Returning after our refreshment break, we’ll settle in for a lecture given by a Cornell faculty member that will explore the relationship between ethics, law, and the regulation of artificial intelligence.

Dinner: Conference center buffet.

Evening: For those who are interested, we’ll remain at the conference center for a film screening of “The Great Debaters,” starring Denzel Washington. After the film, we’ll stick around for a discussion led by Dr. Benson.

DAY

4

Debate Skills, Value of Debate, Impact of the Internet

Ithaca, New York

B,L

Hilton Garden Inn Ithaca

Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; short transfers to/from conference center for program activities. Minimal walking; the day will be classroom-based.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Returning to the ILR Conference Center, we will begin the day with another workshop aimed at developing debating skills suited for use in all debate formats. Following a coffee break, there will be a panel discussion chaired by Cornell’s Speech and Debate Society director, Sam Nelson, on the value of debate in everyday life. The panel will include staff from the Cornell Speech and Debate Program and Cornell debaters.

Lunch: Conference center buffet.

Afternoon: Next in the conference center, we will witness a debate featuring Cornell debate team members as they contest the claim that the internet has brought more harm than good to society at large. Following the debate, we will take a break from the classroom and head out on a field trip to explore more of the college campus.

Dinner: This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on your own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

Evening: At leisure.

DAY

5

Participating, Judging, & Viewing Debates

Ithaca, New York

B,L,D

Hilton Garden Inn Ithaca

Activity note: Getting on/off motorcoach; short transfers to/from conference center for program activities. Minimal walking; the day will be classroom-based.

Breakfast: Hotel buffet.

Morning: Back at the conference center – our home away from home this week – everyone will have the opportunity to either participate in one or more impromptu debates, or listen to the debates as an audience member. Being part of an appreciative audience is a valuable component to the debate experience. There will be two rounds of debate in the morning and topics will include major public policy issues drawn from the general theme of the week: computers, artificial intelligence, and the human future. The debates will not be judged.

Lunch: Conference center buffet.

Afternoon: We’ll then engage in a lecture and discussion about judging debates, during which our local expert, Sam Nelson, will describe what debate judges look for when evaluating debates and the standards they use in their verdicts. Following a coffee break, there will be another round of impromptu debate which will involve judges. Once again, you will have the opportunity to participate in the debate or sit in the audience and enjoy cheering on the team of your choice. As in the morning rounds, the topic for debate will be drawn from the general theme of the week.

Dinner: At a local restaurant, we’ll enjoy a delicious farewell dinner. Share some of your favorite experiences from the program with new Road Scholar friends.

Evening: The remainder of the evening will be at leisure. Be sure to prepare for check-out and departures in the morning.

Morning: As a program wrap-up at the conference center, we’ll engage in a general discussion led by Sam Nelson concerning lessons learned from participating in and listening to yesterday’s debates. Following a break for refreshments, we will enjoy a final lecture given by Dr. Tom Benson on how to organize and sustain a senior debate program in your community. This concludes our program. If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!

Meals

13 Meals

5 Breakfasts

4 Lunches

4 Dinners

The following choices may be available when requested in advance:

Lodging

Lodgings may differ by date. Select a date to see the lodgings specific to that date.

The Hilton Garden Inn is a half mile from Cornell’s campus, ideally situated in downtown Ithaca, with easy access to art galleries, shops, and restaurants. Two restaurants are on site, Kilpatricks Publick House and The Garden Grille & Bar.

Debate for Seniors challenges thinking, whether interested in the mechanism of debate (the emphasis of the program) or the topic for debate and related motions or resolutions. It is fun, challenging, participatory, working together in small groups or teams, and everyone wins.